Chasing the scent of Love, Truth, Beauty, and Mirth, wherever it may lead.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

A Refreshing Change

We
Could Become Earthlings

There
are so many crises these days that it’s hard to imagine how civilization as we
know it can go on. And maybe it’s best that it doesn’t in its present
formulation. A change might be refreshing. It may also be necessary.

The
core of all our problems, I’m guessing, is our assumption that more is not just
better but a matter of great importance. “If we’re not going forward, we’re
falling backwards,” a local politician once told me in defense of urban renewal,
which threw a lot of poor people out of their homes.

For
him—for most—life is a competition, a battle.

So
we grow and consume, grow and consume, like cows fattening ourselves for the
slaughter. And not just in America any more. It’s an epidemic spreading
across the world, disrupting Nature in ways we’ve only begun to recognize.

And
it all has to do with money. We can’t help it, we measure our self-worth by how
much money we have, and we judge yours by that standard, as well. It’s not
intentional, it’s a reflex because we’ve been raised to believe for too long
that our worth is in our wealth.

Truth
is, when it comes to money, there’s never enough. Why else would the rich keep accumulating
it? I made a little in my day, and it just kept sucking me in. First $1,000 was
a lot, but it wasn’t enough after I made $2,000. There was no end in sight to
how much money I felt I needed to feel secure.

But,
as Jacob the musician says in the film Mars
et Avril, we’ve hardly learned anything yet about living artfully on the
Earth. Why do we want to rush on to Mars?

We’re
clever beings. If we were to value another kind of thought, we could imagine
living in a better way. We could become Earthlings. We have a garden here at
home, with plenty for everybody, if we can learn to relax, be ourselves, and
get along. Get back in rhythm with the Earth. Trust Mother Nature. Or, if you
prefer, the Lord. And be grateful for natural science.

There’s
no end of work to do before we’re finished with those mental adjustments.

Look
at the record under present assumptions. Hasn’t it become obvious yet that we
can’t dominate the Earth without killing her and slaughtering each other in the
bargain? Yet I suspect Nature would begin to heal in just a few years if
everyone gave up the mad race for wealth. It might take a global financial
collapse to do it, but we need to change our priorities. Find simpler ways to
live and keep the peace. War, with all its affiliates, is unaffordable. Let’s
not allow it to become too big to fail. We all fail. We all die. Why stay so
lost in the woods?